This invention relates to a testing method for determining delivery rates in delivery systems, such as pumps, in particular injection- or infusion-type pumps, as well as a testing device for said pumps. The present invention is especially concerned with the checking and measurement of the delivery rate, the delivery amount, the maximum shut-off pressure and the bolus amount of pumps, with the bolus amount being defined as the additional delivery volume which is supplied corresponding to pressure drop due to the compressibility of the entire pump system. These parameters should be checked in injection- and infusion-type pumps at regular intervals because health and life of a patient may depend on the correct value of such parameters.
So far, the delivery rate of an injection-type pump has been determined indirectly through a displacement measurement of the advancing syringe-type piston. A mechanical dial gauge is clamped within the syringe receiving cavity of the injection-type pump and the injection-type PUMP is operated by means of a timer for a specific period of time. At the end of this period the distance covered by the syringe-type piston, which has been advanced by a threaded spindle of the pump, is read on the dial gauge. This displacement measurement has the disadvantage that a precise reading of the measured values and strict observance of the selected time interval are difficult to carry out. As a result, the delivery rate of the injection-type pump cannot be determined in a reliable way and with the necessary preciseness.
Moreover, this indirect measurement of the delivery rate is very troublesome and time-consuming.